LH: Atwater did a very noble thing at the end of the episode, when he walked back up to the chair of his house, and he has an interaction with the mother and he fills in gaps of what happened. I think he knows exactly how to fire the feels and doesn’t expect to change his mind. I think the father, in a lot of ways, represents some of us who have this built-in perspective about things. And I say that generally, but there are some of us who do need answers, and there are moments where we can fill in gaps. And I think that’s the very human part about our nature, is that this can happen to anybody. It doesn’t just happen to Black parents. It doesn’t just happen to white parents. This can happen to anybody on any level. And the only thing that can really shift our experience is the empathy we provide and the love that we add to it.

And so, if I can give you a real reference, once upon a time, I was arrested and detained unnecessarily. I was thrown in a paddy wagon because I was running away from a crime scene that I didn’t know anything about. Thank God my little brother’s friend was able to identify me as Lamar’s big brother. Now there’s an offender on the loose, and they got the wrong guy. But I was detained for about 3 or 4 hours, when I was simply supposed to be taking out the garbage. So the only thing I asked the officer to do was to walk me to my mama’s door and let her know where I went, where it happened, then know that I was OK and that they made a mistake. And he looked me in the eye and told me that he would. He went back to his car to grab paperwork, made a U-turn, and didn’t come back.

So for me, as I approach the last scene of that episode, I wanted to do my best to make sure that I didn’t reflect the example that I was given at that moment. But the example of nobility and integrity. To take my pride aside and put myself in a position, a very human position to say, ‘We ain’t perfect. Mistakes were made. But you raised a good boy. You don’t have anything to worry about.’ And that helps the parent. Every parent deserves that. Every kid deserves that closure. I didn’t get it that night. But on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on NBC, I think parents around the nation will be able to see an example of what it feels like.

LaRoyce Hawkins